Environmental Action Plan 2011 Final

Annual Report 2011 | Mecklenburg County, NC

MECKLENBURG

COUNTY

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP

POLICY ACTION PLAN

2 Mecklenburg County Environmental Leadership Policy Action Plan - 2011 Annual Report

The Mecklenburg County Sustainable Community strategic focus area includes a component

for leadership in protecting our environment. The Mecklenburg County Environmental

Leadership Team (ELT) is responsible for facilitating implementation of an Action Plan toward

achieving the County goal of 85% of County operations to be conducted in an environmentally

sensitive manner. The mission of the ELT is:

Mecklenburg County Government will operate in a manner that conserves and protects our air,

water and land resources; become a model of environmental stewardship for local governments,

businesses, and industry in our region, and; use and apply the County’s existing and future

resources wisely for the benefit of its citizens.

Adoption of a scorecard approach to measuring overall progress toward the County’s

Environmental Leadership Policy goals was piloted in 2008 and continues today. Annual

performance goals become more and more stringent as we stretch to meet our 2020 long-term

goals. The Environmental Leadership Index represented in the Mecklenburg County Strategic

Report captures the information presented in this report. The Environmental Leadership Index

emphasizes Emission Reduction and Resource Management as higher priorities over the

Commitment and Stewardship Enhancement goals and therefore may vary slightly from the

percent accomplishment described in this report. County departments have adopted action

plans and as a result, the 2011 ELI indicates 65% of goals were met. The 2011 result is a

marked increase from the 46% of goals met in 2010, however, this result is still equivalent to a

yellow light.

Performance Legend

A green light indicates a goal has either been achieved or performance is at least 85% of the short-term target

A yellow light indicates performance is between 65 and 84% of the short-term target

A red light indicates performance is below 65% of the short-term target

Em

issio

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on •Energy

•Fleet

Resou

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on

serv

ati

on •Waste

•Procurement

•Land

•Facilities Com

mit

tmen

t •Employees

•Partnerships

Ste

ward

sh

ip E

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an

cem

en

t •Continuous Improvement

•Innovation

3 Mecklenburg County Environmental Leadership Policy Action Plan – 2011 Report

Mecklenburg County Environmental Footprint

2011 Data

112 buildings

3.5 million square feet of occupied space

2,838 utility accounts

99.7 million gallons of potable water used

1.4 million therms natural gas used

26.9 million kilowatt hours of electricity used

16,002 tons of waste generated

3,018 tons of waste recycled

64,430 reams office paper used

9.2 million miles traveled in County fleet

1047 fleet vehicles

626,146 gallons of fuel utilized by fleet vehicles

20 County Departments with action plans

3 County Partners with action plans (data not included above)

2011 Environmental $ and ¢

Mecklenburg County realized environmental and economic benefits from implementing our Environmental Leadership Policy

Recycling 3, 395 tons diverted from the

landfill

$105,867 avoided in landfill tipping fees

Energy 9% kWh / sqft saved in facilities

(from 2007 baseline)

$146,950 avoided utility costs

Paper Use

7.5% less office paper used (from 2009 baseline)

$26,700 estimated cost savings


POLICY REQUIREMENTS The Environmental Leadership Policy includes numerous Principals within four focus

categories of: Emission Reduction, Resource Conservation, Commitment and Stewardship

Enhancement (Figure 3). Each Principal has identified long-term 2020 goals as well as

annually assessed short-term goals.

The information presented in this report is a compilation of those activities conducted through

the actions and dedication of the Environmental Leadership Team.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP TEAM

The 2004 Policy instructed the County Manager to appoint an Environmental Leadership Team

(ELT) to identify, evaluate, prioritize and act on environmental aspects of County operations

that warrant examination, modification or corrective action.

County and Partner staff appointed to the Environmental Leadership Team includes:

County General Manager – Bobbie Shields

Environmental Policy Administrator – Heidi Pruess

Land Use and Environmental Services Agency Director – Cary Saul

Director of Solid Waste – Bruce Gledhill

Director of Air Quality – Don Willard Director of Water and Land Resources – W. Dave Canaan

Director of Real Estate Services – Mark Hahn

Director of Environmental Health – Bill Hardister

Branch Manager of Park and Recreation – Michael Kirschman

Director of Finance – Dena Diorio

Char-Meck Purchasing – Karen Ruppe Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools - Brian Kasher

Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County – Kim Arlia

Central Piedmont Community College – Rich Rosenthal

•New and Innovative Practices

•Continuous Review

•Employee Incentives

•Agency Participation

•Community Awareness and Enrichment

•Recycling

•Purchasing

•Land Acquisition

•Sustainable Facilities

•Energy

•Fleet

Emission Reduction

Resource Conservation

Stewardship Enhancement

Commitment


Focus Area 2020 Goals 2011 Progress Toward Goals

Emission

Reduction

50% Energy Use


9% Energy Use


2011 goal was to reach 11% savings. Savings were realized from HVAC system

replacements, roof replacements, and installation of solar thermal systems. Carlton Watkins

Center achieved Energy Star recognition. Approximately 1/3 of County facilities are included in this analysis.

100%

Low Emission

Vehicle Fleet

Vehicle Class %

Compliant

Light Duty Gas

Vehicles 82%

Heavy Duty

Gas Vehicles 78%

Heavy Duty

Diesel Vehicles 64%

2011 goal was to reach 85% LDG, 78% HDG, and 36%

HDD LEV standards for the County Fleet. Fleet downsizing realized attainment of 2/3rds of these

goals. 5% NOx emission factor from the fleet was an

additional 2011 goal. This goal was not attained due to limited fleet replacement.

28% GHG

Emissions (from 2006 baseline)

Continue emission

reduction activities GHG Inventory and Action

Plan is updated biennially

Resource

Conservation

20% of total waste

stream recycled

18.2% of total waste

stream recycled

County transitioned to single-stream recycling and added public recycling

collection at all County Park and Recreation facilities.

Environmentally

Preferable

Purchasing

68% of office

materials met EPP

guide compliance

Supply %

Compliant

Recycled Paper 90%

Office Supplies 24%

Green Seal

Cleaners 90%

Low VOC Paint 90%

Language in EPP guide

incorporated into County

Procurement Policy.

5,306 acres of

preserved and

protected land

134 acres of land was

preserved and/or

protected

12 acres floodplain returned to natural condition

28 acres of Park land

acquired 76 acres of Greenway

acquired 11 acres of Nature Preserve

acquired 7 acres of Buffer acquired

New or renovated

facilities to LEED Gold

standard

LEED certification

applications were

submitted for both the Jail

North Youthful Offender

and Revolution Regional

Sports and Learning Academy facilities.

Water Conservation Plan was developed.

Sustainable Facilities Plan adopted and in place.


Focus Area 2020 Goals 2011 Progress Toward Goals

Commitment

500 hours employee

volunteer/education

regarding environment

2,623 hours employee

volunteer / education

regarding environment

WorkGreen Program hosted numerous educational and volunteer opportunities

for employees

100% participation

of County

departments and

funded agencies

55% of 20 County

departments

participating achieved

goals

Increase from 2010

when 27% of County departments achieved goals. County partners

participating include: Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Schools, Charlotte Mecklenburg

Library, and Central Piedmont

Community College

10% community

awareness of

environmental

issues

Establishing partnerships

to increase community

awareness is on-going

Baseline awareness is

74%


Continuous review and certification of County

programs

Good standing in NC

Environmental

Stewardship Initiative

Maintained and expanded ISO 14001

certification at the Foxhole Landfill

Only entity successfully completing the non-regulated NC ESI program in 2010

New and innovative

practices/programs

Implement Single-

Stream Recycling Program

Information sharing

program between

County and public/

private/institutional organizations regarding

environmental data

Single-stream recycling program successfully launched Countywide

Active participant in Envision Charlotte, a program that will share environmental

sustainability data

*2007 Baseline Year


2011 Highlights

Emission Reduction

Energy – Energy Star was

awarded to the County’s

Carlton Watkins Center

during 2011.

Solar thermal systems with a total of 141

collectors were installed at four County

facilities, one Charlotte Mecklenburg School

facility and one Central Piedmont

Community College facility as a part of the

County’s EECBG funding.

Solar panels at Jail North facility.

Fleet – Non Road Fleet Inventory

During the past 4 years, Mecklenburg

County has reduced nitrogen oxides (NOx)

emissions from its highway vehicles by

70%, down to 7 tons per year while non-

road emissions have stayed constant at 50

tons of NOx production. This inventory

highlighted the need for the County to

identify a Low Emission Vehicle guide for

the County Non-Road Fleet, a project for

2012.

Non Road equipment at Foxhole Landfill.

Resource Conservation

Recycling - Transition to single-stream

recycling resulted in an increased

acceptance of materials for

recycling. The new re-think

campaign resulted in the

County achieving a 18.2%

recycling rate, coming close to

meeting the 2020 goal of 20%

recycling.

Purchasing – Twenty (20) departments

held environmentally preferable purchasing

(EPP) goals and 50 employees attending

“Green” Purchasing training

during 2011. The result is

that County EPP

purchasing increased to

68% in 2011, up from 53%

in 2010.

Land – Acquisition and demolition of

property within the floodplain continued in

2011. The total 30 acres of floodplain land

along Briar Creek provides for a great

investment in open space and future

recreational opportunities. Additional land

acquisition for parks, greenways, and open

space continued to press the County

toward our Park Master Plan goals.

Facilities – The County’s Sustainable

Facilities Policy was not tested during 2010

due to the lack of new County facility

development. Two facilities did complete

their construction and are actively seeking

USBGC LEE certification.


Commitment

Employees – 536 employees

participated in classes, volunteer efforts,

and transit ridership during 2011, logging a

total of 2,623 hours of participation

through the WorkGreen Program.

Volunteer activities included: planting trees

along Little Sugar Creek, participating in

Big Sweep to collect more than 8 tons of

trash from lakes, rivers and streams

throughout Mecklenburg County with other

community volunteers,

collection of roadside debris,

and distributing tarps for

trucks at recycling centers.

The County also recognized

7 Green Guardians in 2010!

Sustainable Community Focus Area –

County departments incorporated

Environmental Action Plans into their

department goals for 2011. In this

inaugural year, 55% of departments

accomplished 85% or more of their goals

and contributed to the overall success of

the Environmental Leadership Policy.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools – The

CMS Strategic Plan 2014 includes an

Environmental Stewardship focus area.

CMS goals toward environmental

stewardship include: reduce utility

consumption by 20%, solid waste by 5%

and pollutants by 20%. CMS highlighted

2011 accomplishments are listed below:

100% of schools participating in the

School Partnership Program –

implementing environmental action

programs at each school,

Reduced utility consumption by over

10% from 2008 baseline,

50 schools rated as Energy Star

schools,

Recycling 82% increase over 2008

baseline with reduction of waste to

the landfill by 9%,

Avoidance of over 20,000 metric

tons of carbon dioxide annually

since 2008,

Developed an on-line Environmental

Stewardship Guide,

On-going efforts toward ISO 14001

framed environmental management

program.


Continuous Improvement – Mecklenburg

County’s Environmental Leadership Team

spent considerable effort during 2011 to

evaluate this Environmental Leadership

Policy against nationwide environmental

sustainability plans but within the ISO

14001 framework. Mecklenburg County

was able to maintain “good standing” in the

NC Environmental Stewardship Program

due to this effort. Environmental

Leadership Policy Initiatives underway in

2012 will reflect this effort.

For more information, contact Mecklenburg County’s Environmental Policy Administrator,

Heidi Pruess, CEP at [email protected] .

ELP

Business Case Alignment

Impacts

Opportunities

EMS Framework

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Environmental Action Plan 2011 Final